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Another review from Born Pretty Store – this time I chose some gorgeous little nail studs – rhinestones and all – which I thought would be perfect for Movember 😀 And they ARE, see?!

They are little faces, with black pupils 😀 I think they are hilarious.

Pretty, but utterly entertaining.

The other nails have a navy blue and mid blue plastic wrap mani (painted first with navy , then splodged the lighter on top with a scrunched up piece of plastic wrap). And I really loved that effect too, in fact I want to try it again soon, I have IDEAS. The little studs are held on with nail glue, and should last for a fun night out. They do stick out from the curve of the nail, but are ideal for an evening or temporary bit of fun and super easy nail art. Highly recommend!

You can get these ones here, and my coupon code is below, for 10% off.

Born Pretty Store asked me to review some more items, Halloween themed this time, and of course I said yes. So a couple more reviews coming up soon. I will say right off the bat (pun intended 😀 ), that these took quite some time to arrive – and, (thanks Murphy!), arrived the day AFTER Halloween. Ah well – I know I will be totally set for next years celebration 😀

The first of the items is this sheet of water decals – all in thematic colours (purple, orange, black mostly) and neat images.

I kept this one simple, using the middle images, graveyard and tree and bats

And sunshine photo..

The background is Butter London Two Fingered Salute, with the water decal on top, and top coated.

I really liked this effect, and how simple it was to do! Would highly recommend these decals or similar ones for a very easy themed nail art (Born Pretty Store has a whole section on nail art here). You can find these particular decals here, but search there are loads more. I have a code for 10% off your order 🙂

Last of the items to review from Born Pretty Store was this stamping plate (which can be found here). I loved the stars and the swirly pattern, but was curious as to the size of the patterns, as some I have previously tried from Born Pretty Store have been on the smaller side. Here is the plate, with the removable blue plastic on it… and as you can see, these are not small!

The first one I tried was, of course, the stars. I used A England Excalibur (the first version) as the stamping polish, and stamped a variety of stars over Dance Legend Anthem.

They turned out beautiful – I’m no expert stamper, even though I am improving, but these were lovely and clear and easy to use.

Next I tried something very different for me – the plaid pattern!

Over a nude shimmery polish I stamped the plaid in black (a stamping polish I made, but any one coat black will work), then used jelly polishes in orange and red to add some colour over the stamping. I didn’t like the effect much, so I added shimmer. And still didn’t much like it, but I have to say, the lines stamped really well, and any crookedness is just my inability to do anything straight 😀

And then finally, I used the swirly brocade like pattern

This was, again, with black, over another of my polishes. I loved this effect – simple, yet rich.

And to show the size, this is the stamp on my thumbs – which aren’t long, but they are wide, and this stamp covered it easily.

I am very impressed with this stamping plate! 😀 This was sent free for honest review, and can be found (among many others, at Born Pretty Store ). Feel free to use my discount code if you like, found along the right side task bar there – for a 10% discount.

Another gorgeous free for review product from Born Pretty Store, this is a simple yet fun sticker that acts as a stencil. The one I got is a zig zag. The first design I tried was this:

Which was an attempt to use it as a french tip stencil. It didn’t work out that well for me, especially in the combination of polishes I used, so I tried again.

That one didn’t work either, again because of user error – the polishes I used were fine, but then I stamped over it and the french tip line wasn’t visible. If at first you don’t succeed … sky diving isn’t for you. Polish is though, so I kept on trying 😀 And came up with this:

Which I did link through to my Facebook page, because I was quite happy with it! See my nails? All long and stuff? Yeah, totally not my nails. Thanks to Jessie from Nailed It NZ for my acrylics, they lasted 2 weeks beautifully and were a lot of fun to play with nail art designs with 😀

And finally I wanted to play with another colour scheme, and I was really getting into these stickers 😀

With the glitter over the top I could get away with the naked nail underneath, which is nice! Also, yep, short again 😀 So only one sticker fits.

In summing up – these took me a bit of getting used to. I think they are awesome though, but I would probably go for a curved, easier one next time, especially if I wanted to use it as a french tip guide sticker. Born Pretty Store has lots of awesome things out, and free shipping. My coupon code (AJBQ10) is along the side there, which gives 10% off the price.

These stickers can be found here, and were provided free in return for honest feedback 🙂

The lovely folks at Born Pretty Store sent a few more things to review, and here is the first – a gorgeous 3D nail decoration in the shape of a gold leaf with sparkly embellishment 😀

I have it here over Dance Legend Mars, and I like the way the colours complement each other, very autumnal to my eye

You can find them here on the Born Pretty site, US$3.06 for two, and they are reusable. I have used top coat to press this on, but if I was wearing it for longer (which I will, hopefully tomorrow night!), I’ll use nail glue to make sure they stay on. They don’t have much of a curve, so don’t lie flat against the edges of my nail, but as these are for special occasions I don’t mind one bit. 🙂

I do enjoy these little leaves, they aren’t so big that they won’t fit on my actual nails, and it’s nice to have another way of adding jewellery. Yes, I am a magpie 😀

Born Pretty Store have loads of things on their site, not just nail art related (though a huge amount of that), and free shipping; I do have a code for 10% off on the right hand side of the page here, or codes can be found all over the internet 😀 (if mine is used 10 times they’ll sponsor a giveaway, I think, I don’t get a financial kick back from it, I pinky promise).

This is a recent mani I did to help a friend for a competition – using neons – providing an example (though, in my case, it’s normally a What Not To Do example):D

These were all over white, the yellow is Models Own Luis Lemon (love this colour, true highlighter yellow), the green is Color Club Feelin’ Groovy (brighter than that, but my camera hates green) and the orange is Color Club Wham! Pow!. I just dotted on the Wham! Pow! And outlined with a black polish (a franken black but any decent black will do) and some broken dots and lines, added top coat, and done! Neon leopard print. I really liked this, may revisit it when I can keep it on for more than 10 seconds 😀

And the mani I posted on my Facebook page recently in support of Mundo de Unas – and against bullying in any way!

This was Color Club Halo-Graphic and the darker pink is Star Kin R.S:

stamped with Mundo de Unas 10

And this is Dance Legend Mars: with a metal and rhinestone leaf decoration from Born Pretty Store

and with stamping.I liked leaving the tips free of stamping, sort of a funky french effect. I also liked this pre clean up, it reminded me of henna hand art! 😀 But, obviously, I had to tidy it up. Ah well. I didn’t take photos of it cleaned up, however. Oops. 😀

The last of the items to review from Born Pretty Store are these very, very cool 3D nail decorations. They are filigree and have stones set into them – this one is silver with a clear rhinestone, but there are others to choose from too, and can be found here.

I kept this mani simple to let the decoration stand out, the base is Star Kin Moon Dark, and all that is needed is some nail glue, and press the shield onto the nail and hold for awhile.

shade

My only complaint is that my nails all broke, and are shorter than this decoration! Wah! The measurements are on the page though, and would have fit my nail perfectly pre-break. And when they grow again, it’s going to be GREAT 😀 They are, however, a great width for me 🙂

the reflection from the decoration is freaking my camera out 😀

I am looking forward to using these on a night out too, it’s great to have a selection of fun things to jazz up a simple mani with. Free shipping from Born Pretty Store, and feel free to use my coupon code (in the right sidebar) to get 10% off. Shipping times are a bit sporadic, this time they arrived very quickly (in about a week), other times it has been 5-6 weeks, usually somewhere in between. So, I’d recommend stashing one or nice pieces for future use, and not having to be concerned about that 😀 Stockpile like a squirrel! 😀

Another item to review from Born Pretty Store, and this is one of my favourites! These are snake print water decals, but for a full nail, rather than an image. They come in a little packet like this:

plus, you can stick them on your foes 😀 And ye shall know my enemies by their attractive nails…. 😛

And have the instructions on the back, and the actual decals look like this. You do need to cut them to shape, but fret not!

First – how the finished product looked…

Hnngh. I loved these. O.K – details. First off, I painted my nails a mid grey. These decals are translucent, so a base colour is important. Secondly, I roughly shaped the rectangles to my non-rectangular nails, and placed them in water, then slid them off onto the chosen nail. (Neo. You are the Chosen Nail. cough). I did these one at a time, because I only have two pairs of hands ;).

Then, once they were all on I top coated them. Which made them look even better, so glossy! Here is my discovery. Top coat sort of eats these decals, but in a mostly very good way. I took the top coat over the tip of my nail, and when I pressed down on the jagged decal edges (I can’t anything in a straight line. It’s one of my skillz), the jagged edges came off, leaving a nice smooth edge! Yay! However: I went back over a bald top coat spot, and it took a tiny little circle of decal right off. So, lots of top coat, lay it down once and move away.

I covered the little missing circle with a loose glitter – and then added one to a few other nails so it looked like a design feature 😀

To repeat myself, I totally loved these decals. They were sent for review, but I WILL buy more. They are just so pretty. They wore moderately fast on me, but everything does, I’m the opposite of gentle on my hands.

You can get these from Born Pretty Store, and there is a coupon on the right side of my blog here with a 10% discount voucher should you wish to use it 🙂

I was contacted again by the friendly Daisy from Born Pretty Store to ask whether I’d like to review a few more products for them, and um yes, yes I would 😀 They are so much fun! I went for a few new-to-me items, like these metal fox nail decorations (find them here) and waited with anticipation.

Well.

These are amazing. I am wearing one here over a Handmade by Kyleigh Starry Starry Knight. I haven’t top coated, relying on the polish (which was damp and I just pressed Mr Fox down into the polish) to hold it in place, and it seemed very stable. I would use glue if I was going out wearing these, though, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing it 🙂 You get three in the packet 🙂

They have a decent weight to them but are not heavy and do not stick up too much, no danger of an inadvertent eye gouge here.

And, of course, they are SUPER pretty

Then I integrated another one into another mani, and I think it worked even better…

This is a skittlette mani: left – right: Lyn B Designs Double Bluff (amazing polish, post coming later), a purple jelly I made with Double Bluff dots over the top, the purple jelly with Mr Fox decoration, and purple jelly with Star Kin Dainty over the top.

These little foxes are gold with clear sparkly stones and black eyes – Born Pretty Store has heaps of others to chose from, too 🙂 My code for 10% off is AJQB10 , or you can click the Born Pretty Store icon on the right side of this page to go to their site and use the coupon – or any other 🙂

Usually, items from Born Pretty can take a goodly length of time to arrive – this time, they arrived within 9 days. That is right up there with the quickest arrival from China, and I’m really impressed, and hoping that will be the new trend 🙂 I have a few other reviews to show shortly, and a few other items that I have bought myself, so yes, I do buy their products as well as being sent them 😀

Have a wonderful day

Ami

*Fox nail decoration sent for review. All other items bought by myself, opinions my own 🙂

And I mean nothing nefarious by ‘massage nails’: I went on an awesome massage class leaning Lomilomi for a weekend, and well, I learned during my nursing training, and in the massage diploma course, that brightly painted nails can just not look quite right. (well, it’s outright banned in most hospitals, and then your sense of what is appropriate becomes warped, more likely). Anyway! I cut my nails short for obvious reasons, and went with a very soft neutral Color Club pink and stamped a delicate pattern on my accent nail.

Oh, the ring? Why yes, isn’t it gorgeous! My friend Serra from Peacock Pie makes the most gorgeous jewellery using nail polish, and I managed to snaffle this ring off her. And I love it 😀 It goes with everything.

The next is a polish I put on yesterday, to match a bustier I wore out dancing last night. The main colour is a deep red holographic Star Kin polish that I am planning on making available a bit later on in the year, called Holo Sailor. The stamp is done with a black holographic stamping polish I also made just for my own personal use.

The accent nail has two coats of Holo Sailor, and then put on a top coat (well, base coat, it dries slower!) and pressed on some holographic red and matte black square glitter into lines across my nail. I used the high tech method of a small wooden skewer which I dipped in water to pick up the glitters 😀 Topped off with two coats of proper top coat, it was still a bit rough to the touch but I wouldn’t have been able to sand down wood with them, and all glitters stayed firmly in place.

With the bustier – you can see I reversed the colours, but it still worked fine for me 😀

And yes, it was a great night out, good band, good friends, danced for 4 hours. Happy Ami, tired Ami 🙂